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A chance to identify a local guy who may have played on the city's first pro team

By: Bob Hunter

The Columbus Dispatch - February 10, 2012 04:55 PM

The rare photo of the 1876 Columbus Buckeyes that Tracy Martin found in a German Village estate
sale about 10 years ago -- the full story is told in
my column in
today's Dispatch-- had another photo of an older couple in a Victorian era
pose pasted to the other side.

It occurred to me that the gentleman in that photo may have been on the team, and
Tracy and I thought we found at least two men on the team photo that bore enough of a
resemblance to the man on the back to pique our interests. Because that man may have been a
Columbus native, stayed in the city after his playing days were over or even lived in the house
where Martin purchased the photo (he's been to so many sales in the village since then that he
can't remember), it would be good to know who the guy was. It would be nice mystery to solve while
Columbus is cele brating its 200th birthday.

A little info on that 1876 team, courtesy of local baseball historian Joe Santry: It was the
city's first professional team, but didn't play in a league. On May 1, the Chicago White Stockings
of the new National League visited Columbus and beat the Buckeyes 5-0; Albert Spalding (of Spalding
Sporting Goods Co. fame) was the winning pitcher and Eddie "The Only" Nolan the loser for Columbus.
By the end of June, the Buckeyes were 11-7-1 and had defeated both Boston and Hartford of the
National League. At last count the team was 13-12-1; the records are incomplete, although it is
known that the season concluded with a southern road trip in October.

Five players and the manager were identified in the team photo by researchers from the
Society for Amerian Baseball Research -- Nolan, manager Jimmy Williams, Billy Barnie, George
Strief, Joe Simmons and Chub Sullivan. The rest, presumably including the mystery man on the back,
are unidentified, although we do have a team roster to compare any new identifications
against.

So here's a look at both photos and also an invitation to offer your input on the
possibility the older man is actually one of the younger men on the other side.

If anyone would like a better look at the team photo, a suitcase-sized blowup of it is in the
Columbus Historical Society's bicentennial display just to the right of the main entrance at
COSI. The display covers all aspects of Columbus history from 1812 to 1912 -- a new exhibit
celebrating the city's second hundred years will be on display in August -- and will officially
open Tuesday at 7 p.m. at CHS' birthday party. It includes dozens of photos and lots of rare
artifacts. Anyone interested in attending is invited to call 614-224-0822 or email CHS at
info@columbushistory.org.